Kevin Bell v. David Kreklewich, 2010 SKPC 49

IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF SASKATCHEWAN CIVIL DIVISION Citation: 2010 SKPC 049 Date: May 3, 2010 File: Claim 73/09 Location: Melville, Saskatchewan _____________________________________________________________________________ Between: Kevin Bell and David Kreklewich Barristers and Solicitors - and - Larry Mosiuk Kevin Bell For the Plaintiff Self For the Defendant _____________________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT BRENT KLAUSE , J _____________________________________________________________________________ [ 1 ] Kevin Bell is a Barrister and Solicitor practicing law in Melville, Saskatchewan under the firm name and style of Bell Kreklewich & Company.

[ 2 ] Larry Mosiuk is a self-employed farmer and businessman from Kamsack, Saskatchewan. [ 3 ] The Plaintiffs were retained by the Defendant in 2008 in regard to several distinct files: (1) the Town of Kamsack file; (2) the Kunetsky file; and (3) the Kuzma file. On the day set for trial, Mr. Mosiuk agreed that the amount of $404.82 in regard to the Kunetsky file was owing and he has agreed that judgment be in favor of the Plaintiff for that amount.

He disputes both the Town of Kamsack file and the Kuzma file. [ 4 ] The Plaintiffs had been retained to provide legal services involving litigation with the Town of Kamsack. On November 13, 2008, the Plaintiff delivered an account to the Defendant in the amount of $8,808.42 for legal services provided. On November 20, 2008, Mr. Mosiuk paid $3,120.69 against that account leaving an outstanding balance of $5,687.73.

On January 26, 2009, the Plaintiffs delivered an additional bill for $3,856.10 again for services provided to the Defendant in regard to litigation involving the Town of Kamsack for a total of $9,543.83 and to date this account has not been paid. [ 5 ] In addition, the Plaintiff was retained by the Defendant to provide legal services to a colleague of the Defendant, one William Kuzma. These services were provided and a bill rendered to the Defendant in the amount of $734.68. The Defendant denies ever retaining the Plaintiff to provide these services to Mr.

Kuzma and has not made any payments on this account. [ 6 ] The evidence was heard before me on March 12, 2010, at Melville, Saskatchewan. The Plaintiff testified that he has been retained by the Defendant to provide legal services to him over a period of approximately ten years and during that time, it was always a “bit of a challenge” to provide legal services as Mr. Mosiuk, while an affable client, would often leave things to the last minute and his last minute emergency would then become a last minute emergency for the law firm.

The Defendant would often call the Plaintiff at his residence, after hours and would often drop into the office without an appointment. Mr. Mosiuk is a farmer, and additionally owns a furniture store in Kamsack, Saskatchewan and other commercial properties. It was Mr. Bell’s evidence that much of the work involved late payment of taxes, tax arrears on commercial buildings in Kamsack and remedial orders by the Town of Kamsack to repair some of his buildings which they found to be in disrepair. Mr. Bell knew that dealing with Mr.

Mosiuk would be both interesting and challenging and it appears that for the most part, they had a solid and professional solicitor/client relationship. It appears that much of the legal advice proffered was successful as it essentially bought the Defendant time in which to pay his tax arrears so that the Town of Kamsack was precluded from assuming ownership of the Defendant’s properties. [ 7 ] Mr.

Bell testified at length about his billing practices and indicated that all time logged by the lawyers at his firm is logged electronically and entered onto time sheets which is then passed on to the administrative staff. When an account is billed to a client the matter is then archived so that the client cannot be billed again for the same time and this protects against double billing. The firm’s policy is to charge 1.5% interest per month, non compounding, on all overdue balances.

His accounting system also generates reminders showing the amount owing, plus interest and the total balance and identifies any amounts that have been paid. He testified that at all times the Defendant was aware of his hourly rates. I am satisfied on the evidence before me that his accounts are done in accord with standard billing practices and that the time allocated to the Defendant’s account was in fact at all times provided to Mr. Mosiuk or to people delegated by him to receive legal services from the Plaintiff.

Ultimately the relationship ended when the Defendant wanted to take a course of action that the Plaintiff considered ethically unwise; the Plaintiff refused to take that position and advised the Defendant to seek legal counsel elsewhere. [ 8 ] The Defendant’s position is difficult to discern. He does not essentially dispute the fact that legal services were provided to him by the Plaintiff on a continuing basis but now seems convinced that his former lawyer, Kevin Bell and the lawyer retained by the Town of Kamsack, Tom Campbell, conspired together to take his property away from him.

The word conspiracy cropped up several times in his evidence and he is convinced that everyone is conspiring against him in order to convert his Kamsack properties into property owned by the Town of Kamsack. Much of his evidence was centered around the ownership of his buildings, the condition they are in, a building analysis of the structures and the possible disagreements he had with the Plaintiff over how to proceed. He maintains that “Mr. Campbell and Mr. Bell were conspiring to steal my property with the Town of Kamsack”.

This preoccupation with conspiracy theories dominated much of his evidence and went on to suggest that agents of the Town of Kamsack somehow “infested” his building with rodents in an effort to have it declared a health hazard by the Department of Health. As the Defendant admitted himself in his own examination-in-chief, “It is hard to pick holes in the billing when I have no way of knowing what he did.” [ 9 ] In my opinion, there has been no credible defence offered to dispute the Plaintiff’s claim. There is no evidence to suggest that the work was not done and in fact, all the evidence points to the contrary.

The Defendant kept his buildings in the face of a possible loss of the buildings to the Town of Kamsack in lieu of taxes. In my opinion, Mr. Mosiuk has more legal issues that most litigants and it

seems that he simply is unable to keep track of all the separate litigation and legal incidents he has to occupy himself with. I agree with the Plaintiff that this is not the proper forum for allegations of conspiracy and theft and frankly there is no credible evidence before me to suggest either. [ 10 ] In my opinion, the Plaintiff has proven his case. I accept that the evidence called on behalf of the Plaintiff establishes his entire claim on a balance of probabilities. In particular both his claim in regard to the Town of Kamsack and the Kuzma file are substantiated by his viva voce evidence.

In regard to the Kuzma claim, I am satisfied that while the Defendant may well have introduced the Plaintiff to Mr. Kuzma, it was to advance a business interest of the Defendant and for which he guaranteed the payment of the Plaintiff’s legal services provided on the Kuzma file. [ 11 ] There will be judgement for the Plaintiff in an amount of $11,288.37 together with interest ($28.04) calculated at the usual rate for a total of $11,316.41 together with the costs of this action. [ 12 ] Dated at the City of Yorkton, this 3 rd day of May, 2010. Brent Klause, J